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A. What about the validity and reliability of
the survey items?
Good question to ask if you're evaluating competency, doing
research or benchmarking. However, since MFS is assessing behavior,
not evaluating competencies against a competency model, this question
is irrelevant. The MFS identifies the needs of a manager's work
group, and the extent to which the manager is meeting those needs.
If MFS were measuring competencies, validity and reliability studies
would be appropriate. But, that's not what the MFS process is
about. What MFS is about, is identifying
the behaviors experienced by that manager's work group and assessing
the extent to which the work group's needs are being appropriately
met or blocked by the manager's behavior. The behaviors assessed
are those that four decades of social science research associate
with high motivation, high productivity, and exceptional quality
performance. The MFS results are not the ends, but rather the
means to identify areas that a manager needs to address and discuss
with their work group. Taking the necessary actions to remove
the barriers that are blocking the performance of the manager's
work group is the real end result of MFS. (If Competency, Research
or Benchmarking is of interest, see Question B.)
B. Can the MFS survey Items and Dimension Areas
be customized?
Yes! Any Item can be modified or deleted, and items can be added.
Any changes will probably require revision or creation of new Interpretations
& Recommendations, the unique, and perhaps most powerful feature
of MFS. The Interpretation & Recommendation texts are specific for
any possible outcome of each and every survey item. Before modifying
survey items, one needs to ask: "How will this new or different
Item help the manager and the work group in a way that is more effective
than any of the existing Items?" There is, by the way, no physical
or technical limit to the number of survey Items.
What about the Dimensions?
Labels and definitions are easily changed but, the same considerations
need to be made as in the case of changing survey items. Assignment
of survey items to Dimensions can also be changed. For example,
Compustar has created new Dimensions for a company that wanted their
Core Values highlighted. Compustar has also modified the MFS software
program for use with competency based studies and projects for clients.
Inquiries are invited!
C. What about using MFS for 360° feedback?
Using MFS for gathering 360° feedback is not appropriate.
1. Only the people who have directly experienced
the manager's behavior can provide valid, reliable responses to
the items in the EMQ survey. Peers' and boss' responses to these
items are inferential and speculative, not based on direct experience.
2. The purpose of MFS is to improve communication,
trust, and work group productivity by:
Identifying the needs of a manager's work group or team;
Assessing how the manager helps or blocks work performance; and,
Providing a valid, timely basis for developing change strategies for their mutual benefit.
Feedback from other sources, boss and peers, does not accurately reflect the needs of the work group, and, if combined with work group data, contaminates that data and provides inaccurate results.
3. Managers can get relevant feedback more effectively
in face to face discussions with their boss and peers than via a
survey. The MFS process establishes the foundation for additional
data collection from peers and others. Instructions for doing so
as a follow-up is included in the MFS process.
4.Three tiers of simultaneously collected data
tends to be confusing, creates information overload, and is a classic
example of sacrificing effectiveness on the altar of efficiency.
Process and timing really do matter!
D. Are the results compared to normative data?
No. MFS compares perceptions and current information about the
work relationship between the manager and the work group. It does
not measure competency against a set of competency standards. The
comparison is with a tested, well established model of excellent
managerial behavior; that is, behaviors that have demonstrated effectiveness
in producing high performing work groups characterized by high morale,
motivation and productivity. It is our belief that when assessing
managerial behavior, it is more useful, meaningful and relevant
to compare oneself to a standard of excellence than to a set of
norms.
As an analogy, imagine if you were admitted to a cancer ward and
your doctor told you that you were in the 99th percentile compared
to the others in the ward since they would all die within 30 days,
but you had 60 days to live. How relevant would being in the 99th
percentile be? If you prefer a less gruesome analogy, keep in mind
that golfers compare themselves against a standard of excellence
- Par - on every hole and every round, not their percentile ranking
compared to other golfers.
E. Are organizational/group profiles available?
Yes! Reports, identical to individual manager reports, and reflecting
consolidated self and other's data can be created. Only Compustar
has the capability to construct these reports because it alone has
the key to the encryption mechanism that secures the data sets.
To be included in the organizational profile, individual managers
are identified to Compustar. Profiles can be sliced in multiple
ways. Initial consultation with the organization is required before
the data base is established to identify and define the sorting
parameters. The fee is ridiculously low and the value of the reports
is extremely high.
F. How is anonymity of the Others individual data
assured?
No "Other" individual's responses are ever stored as a single
record or data set in the data files. Rather, the computer aggregates
all the individual's responses into a composite of others responses
and computes the data in memory before it is stored in the database.
Think of each survey item as a bucket and each person's responses
as a rain drop in the bucket. The bucket becomes full of water and
is measurable, but no one can ever find out from which cloud any
rain drop came!
G. Can someone gain access to another persons
data?
DEFINITELY NOT! Each manager's data is identified
by a unique serial number that is used only once to set up your
database. Once the database is set up, the serial number can never
be used again and only the person who sets up the account knows
his or her own user ID and password. Passwords can be changed as
often as you wish.
H. What happens if a person forgets their security
codes?
No Problem. Call or E-mail Compustar. We cannot access your
password, however we can establish a new password of your choice
for you. Once you have a new password, (and have made a note of
it in a secure place!) you can change it as often as you wish.
I. Can I obtain a copy of my data for off line
storage.
You can request a secure copy of your data for safekeeping. This
copy of your data can be sent to you by E-mail or on a floppy disk.
The actual data you receive will be encrypted and is useful for
archive purposes only. However, Compustar can reload your data back
to the Compustar site if you wish to access it again at a later
date.
J. How do you handle Others in remote locations?
Just pick up the phone or use E-mail.
Inform the people you want to respond to the survey;
Explain to them what you're doing and why;
Send them instructions on how to log on to the program and the USER
ID and OTHERS ACCESS CODE that you will have established expressly
for use by those from whom you want to provide you with feedback.
When these people have completed the survey, their data will become
part of your private, secure database. The program lets you know
how many Others have completed the survey
K. How often and when should the MFS process be
used?
For managers using this process with their work groups for the
first time, we suggest using the process every three or four months
for the first year, then every four to six months of the second
year, and then semi- annually, for the balance of their careers.
This assumes the work group membership doesn't change, or other
factors in the nature of the work or the organization remain constant.
It is suggested that the MFS process be conducted as if it were
a first time use, any time a change occurs, such as a seasoned manager
inheriting a new group, or a seasoned work group inheriting a new
manager.
However, the new work relationship needs a gestation period of
three or four months so the data reflects some history of experience
with the manager requesting the feedback.
Remember, the purpose of MFS is to identify what the work group
members need in the way of behavior by their immediate manager,
in order to perform effectively. That is, it assesses the extent
to which a manager's behavior is meeting the performance needs of
the work group
L. What is it about MFS that makes it "unique"
It is unique because it combines ALL of the following features:
1. The manager, not a third party, controls the
entire process and their own data.
2. Confidentiality of the manager's data and
the anonymity of the "Others'" input is absolutely protected.
3. It provides managers with critical information
about the impact of their behavior on the performance of their work
groups in ONE calendar day.
4. Expert Interpretations and Recommendations,
specific to the manager's own, personal results, enable managers
to develop practical Action Plans, themselves, to address the needs
of their work group.
5. Managers use their own personal computers
for both data collection and analysis. No paper and pencil or reference
books are needed.
